L.A. Lakers fire head coach 5 games into season

head coach Mike Brown has paid the price for the Lakers' poor start to the new NBA season.

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Lakers coach Mike Brown sacked after team's poor start to the new NBA season

His assistant Bernie Bickerstaff will be interim head coach for Friday night's game

Team's management decided to make the move Thursday following loss to Utah

The Los Angeles Lakers' 0-8 preseason and 1-4 start to the regular season was too much for the front office to take.

The NBA team on Friday fired second-year head coach Mike Brown, whose efforts to implement a new offense and mesh free-agent signings with stars who won a title two years ago didn't turn into wins.

"Really, it came down to ownership and management looking at the record, looking at the improvement level, and wondering a month or two or three down the road, will we be in the same spot," General Manager Mitch Kupchak told reporters.

Assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff will be interim head coach for Friday night's game against the Golden State Warriors, the Lakers said.

The Lakers, just two years removed from an NBA championship, are loaded with high-profile talent with the likes of all-stars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, and they added former league MVP Steve Nash and former Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard in the off-season.

But Nash has missed most of the season's early games with an injury, and the Lakers struggled with a complex new offense Brown was implementing.